Just what is going on with the Olympics Media Centre? Reports yesterday seemed to indicate that iCity was to be proposed as preferred bidder over and above the rival bid from the UK Fashion Hub at next Tuesday's London Legacy Development Corporation board meeting. I find this incredible beyond belief...

To recap, two buildings for the media have been constructed in the Olympic Park: the smaller main press centre, which looks out on to the River Lea navigation canal, and the larger international broadcast centre which stands behind it. The former is already filling up with sports journalists, who can enjoy a fine view of Gainsborough School, Wick Village and Leabank Square across the water and now, under their noses, of a couple of probably very bored squaddies in a tent.

Finding a post-Games use for the two buildings has proven every bit as tricky as expected. They stand in the section of the park that lies within Hackney, whose political leaders have invested great legacy hopes in their eventually housing thriving businesses, providing cutting edge creative industry jobs. But after lengthy negotiations, the BBC declined to shift its EastEnders operation there. In Hackney Town Hall, teeth still gnash at the memory.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company, since succeeded by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), then touted for tenants, and in January announced a shortlist of three, which shrank to two in April. The UK Fashion Hub bid promises to "bridge science, fashion, technology, manufacturing and sport." Its rival iCity says it will "deliver a world leading technology and digital cluster."

Sadek writes:

It would be unfair to categorise the iCity bid as a glorified data centre...But the UK Fashion Hub concept was light. And colour. And vibrancy. It was cool and young. It was the opposite of technocratic. The Fashion Hub could send a serious signal on legacy.

Sadek declares a "very small" interest, having been part of the team that worked on the UK Fashion Hub bid, but you can see her point. She has others, though, and these are more ominous - or just bluntly realistic, depending on your point of view:

It is a sad fact that both bids were somewhat grasping at straws on a very difficult (arguably impossible) plot...Perhaps, taking some serious lessons from the Dome fiasco, we should just start again.

Mayor Johnson's chief of staff and deputy for planning Sir Edward Lister was reported in March as ruling out any "fire sales" of Olympic Park sites in order to clear the debt of £223m the Greater London Authority has taken on as part of its new arrangement with the government over the future development of the park and its environs. However, Sadek speculates that Moylan is entirely capable of deciding that the best course is to "just flog the site off for housing at the first opportunity."

Whichever bid is approved at next Tuesday's board meeting, the point is that there will still be a lot of negotiating to do before any deal is sealed. Re-costing the "demolish and 'flog off'" option may simply be part of the new LLDC regime getting its financial ducks in a row, but it will also underline to the successful bidder that the corporation retains other options.

Meanwhile, the latest bidding process for the Olympic stadium has attracted four parties interested in moving in after the Games, one of which is West Ham United. More on that another day.

Update, 17:11. As Nick Whitten of Estates Gazette has just reported, the UK Fashion Hub has now withdrawn its bid. It's issued a statement expressing some displeasure:

Press coverage over the past two days has reported leaks that suggest a decision has already been taken to appoint iCity as the preferred bidder, despite the LLDC board meeting scheduled for the 17th July to make that decision. This, and other issues, have compounded the unease felt by the UKFH team that the process has not been as transparent as it should be and therefore the decision has been taken to withdraw.

One source tells me that the UKFH withdrawal is unlikely to make much immediate difference, and iCity expected to be confirmed as preferred bidder on Tuesday just the same. Nick Whitten, though, suggest a decision might now be delayed and advises us to "expect the unexpected." Can't say I disagree...